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New Year, Old Films

After what feels like an age since the last blog post (seems to be well over a month as I look back) I have finally found my typing fingers again, after a rocky start to the New Year. But enough of that, this blog is about films (least it was last time I logged on and checked) and as such I should at least make a mention to them in this post.

So what type of films have I watched and enjoyed over the past month hiatus from the blogosphere? To be honest very few in the way of new films, I am shocked to say little has garnered my interest for long enough. This curious change in attitude happened quite suddenly to my amazement as I stumbled on a film I completely forgot was in my own collection, Richard Lester’s ‘The Bedsitting Room’ . After sitting and watching its brief running time I found it to be a long forgotten British comedy which deserved to be more acknowledged among film fans and hardened devotees equally.

But that wasn’t all, this little oddity had me thinking, there had to be other rarely seen or heard of films which have been long forgotten at least by the general public. With that I mind I decided to look for those ever elusive hardly seen features and while not all are of a top class standard, they are still enjoyable. This in turn led me to see 2011 as the filmic year to ‘Rediscover’ films which is due in part to the fact most of the pap that is put out now hardly has me jumping for joy.

So as I continue to look for those odd and different films over the next year, there is one film I want to mention which, although not fantastic, instantly had me interest. The film (or rather films) in question happen to be a live action versions of Tintin from 1961 (Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece) and 1964 (Tintinand the Blue Oranges) respectfully. Until about a month ago I had no idea live action versions of Herge’s popular comic existed. I actually feel annoyed with myself as I am a self confessed Tintin fan (here goes my creditability) and own all of the published books (from first in Russia to the final unfinished Alpha-Art). It is the one thing from my childhood that I have been able to carry into adulthood, I think it must be the boys own adventure style to the stories, not to mention the absolutely gorgeous art that Herge provided for each adventure which continue to hook me in.

What with Spielberg releasing a motion-capture feature film at the end of this year, it feels apt that I look over the original film incarnations, themselves not based on any of Herge’s original stories. Having never heard of them before I felt curiosity get the better of me for once (well regarding film at least) and whether they were going to be good or awful I jumped at the chance of owning the films.

So what are they like, well they really are not as bad as I thought, each film has its own merits and weaknesses. But for a fan of Tintin they really are nice little throwbacks to a simpler and less bombastic film time, films which I think I will enjoy the more (keep an eye out for more in-depth look at the films soon). If this has taught me anything, it is that there are still good films to enjoy and that I have yet to either find or hear about. It looks like 2011 will be the year of the film hunt.